sniffles
First Post
New Friends - and New Enemies
It was with some trepidation that Liadan broke the clay seals on the two scrolls we had received and reviewed their contents. We were still uncertain of our reception in the city of the efreeti.
The two missives proved to be nothing more than they appeared: invitations from nobles of the Caliph's court. Our host informed us that they came from two lesser princes, captains of the Caliph's army, by the names of Fasir and Loka Poshk. Unfortunately Loka Poshk's message was written in the native tongue of the Plane of Fire, which none of us could read at that point. But Fasir had written in the common tongue. His flowery message requested our presence for tea at some point within the next three days. He also recommended a specific scribe by whom we could send our response.
We did not know whether we should accept either invitation - for we presumed that Loka Poshk's message contained a similar request - and we determined that we should garner more information about these two captains before making our decision. Liadan then asked our host if he knew of an alehouse or wine shop where we might find folk likely to be familiar with these two worthies. He suggested a likely location.
The nighttime streets of the City of Brass are not as busy as those of Calimport, though similar in many respects. Finding the evening air cooler, we determined that it would be wise to don our armor. Erim then surrounded us with magics of fire protection, as that is a common hazard here. We then proceeded to the establishment recommended to us. We found that we were better armed and armored than the other guests, though not as nicely attired.
Our arrival naturally drew some attention, for most of the other guests were djanni. But as we could not understand their speech we did not know if the attention we provoked was unfriendly. There were no empty tables available and we were seated with two humans and a djanni.
Fortunately they spoke the common tongue and were not averse to conversing with us. Nekaya and Liadan took the lead in these, being the most accomplished conversationalists among our party. They made no pretense of disguising our reason for visiting the City of Brass. Our table-mates described for us several individuals they knew of as guests of the Caliph, but Osaze Mumbai was not among the names they mentioned. When Liadan made mention of him they responded by describing him as a prisoner and were amused that she had referred to him as a guest of the Caliph. But they were aware of him as a holy man, and questioned Liadan regarding what made him so admirable to us. She then proceeded to tell them the story Madu el Barake had told us of Osaze's visit to the dragon. She also told them of the invitations we had received, to which they made a curious suggestion: they recommended that we publicly burn the invitations, to draw the attention of the two captains' enemies, for they judged that both captains were unimportant and their enemies were much more likely to be worth meeting.
While this conversation proceeded, Baran and I observed something peculiar occurring at the table nearest ours. A servant had been summoned there and the patrons at the table made some remarks to him while looking intently at our group. The servant then smiled in a most disturbing manner, staring at us all the while, and hurried out of the establishment.
Though we could not understand their words, Baran is an accomplished mimic and was able to repeat what they had said to Erim, whose magic enabled him to comprehend it. They had spoken of someone named Kamaree who evidently had some interest in us. Nekaya-Re then asked our companions of this Kamaree. They explained that he was another captain of the Caliph's army and was known to have a fierce temper, but they knew little else.
We lingered for a time at the table, anticipating that the servant who had departed had gone to fetch this Captain Kamaree, but when no one arrived we at last bade our farewells to our table-mates and made our way back toward the wayhouse. We soon detected that someone was following us, flying above the streets as so many of the city's denizens are able to do. We determined that he was indeed pursuing us by making several unnecessary changes of direction, pretending to have lost our way.
Baran then turned toward the flying individual and demanded to know for what purpose he followed us. This person, who we observed was well armored and bearing both sword and bow, then alit upon the street and asked our names. Baran demanded to know his name first. He introduced himself as Thusal and claimed that his pursuit had been due to curiosity. But Erim had recognized the crest he wore as associating him with Kamaree and asked why Kamaree had sent him.
Liadan then asked Thusal what he knew of Fasir and Loka Poshk. Thusal spoke disparagingly of Loka Poshk as a captain and explained that Fasir was an administrator of sorts. He then recommended that if we wished to have any chance of seeing Osaze Mumbai we should make the acquaintance of Prince Jafar, who had charge of the Caliph's dungeons. He told us that the Prince had an interest in weaponry, particularly magical weapons. Thusal then escorted us to our wayhouse and bade us good evening.
On the following morning, Lathander granted Liadan the ability to read the message from Loka Poshk for herself, which confirmed that it was much the same as Fasir's invitation. But we determined that we still lacked sufficient information to decide how to respond. We realized that it might be worthwhile to follow Thusal's suggestion and seek audience with Prince Jafar, for it seemed much more likely that this could gain us access to Osaze than having tea with two lesser nobles who were reputedly not in good standing in the court. Liadan had also realized that we held in our keeping an item that might be of interest to the Prince: a curious blade we had found in the beholder temple, designed to be wielded by an eye tyrant by holding it in its mouth.
We made our way out into the city to contact a scribe who could write a message to Prince Jafar on our behalf. As we traveled we discovered that Captain Kamaree had evidently been spreading unflattering rumours about us. We learned that his ire had apparently been roused because the efreet that Liadan's magic had blinded was his cousin. Liadan then suggested that she might offer to heal the other efreet's blindness, but Erim remarked that such an offer might be considered too conciliatory. Instead, after having our offer to Prince Jafar transcribed, Liadan dictated a message to Kamaree in an effort to make peace with him without appearing weak or condescending.
After some hours spent examining the wares available in the city, we repaired to an eating establishment of very high standards suggested to us by our host at the wayhouse. We were the only patrons not of efreet-kind. Once again we found ourselves seated with strangers, this time two blue-skinned djinni. I had not understood the differences between all of these folk until I met these two gentelpersons. While djanni are those half of efreet blood and half of human blood, djinni are denizens of the Plane of Air. These two were servants of Minister Halashahn, ambassador of the djinni to the Caliph's court.
Our fellow guests were most pleasant and willing to converse on all manner of topics. When told of our desire to see Osaze Mumbai, they explained that they had met him at the Caliph's court and been greatly impressed by his skill at oratory. Though they knew that he had spoken for the benefit of all present, each person who heard him speak had felt as though he spoke to them alone.
They asked us to tell them of our journey to the city, for it was apparent to them that we are not ordinary folk. Liadan then regaled them with the tale of our crossing of the desert and our battles with the whirling columns of fire and obsidian. She also described our adventure in the eye tyrant's stronghold beneath the sands. When she mentioned her father they recognized his name and commented upon the quantity of heroic deeds credited to him. They in turn appeared to be most friendly toward us, and told us that they wished they could aid us in achieving our goal of seeing Osaze, though they knew not how to achieve this. They did offer their aid in gaining an introduction to Prince Jafar, however, for which we were most grateful.
Following this pleasant meal, we returned once more to the wayhouse to find a message awaiting us. This time the missive came from Kamaree, who requested that we meet him at Whitefire Gardens on the following day at noon. Erim observed that the request was stated in the tone of a demand rather than an invitation. He also noted that Whitefire Gardens is located within the grounds of the royal palace!
____________________________
Quips & Quotes:
Zora: "Are we going in fireball formation or lightning bolt formation?"
patv: "I prefer lightning bolt - it sounds faster."
patv: "Okay, I'll regret this, but I'll prepare animate rope today."
Devo: "Did you take rope trick?"
patv: "I don't have that spell."
Zora: "Because you have to know how to animate the rope to get it to do tricks."
patv: "Yeah, you have to be able to get it up before it will do it's thing."
patv: "I have darkvision to 60 feet. How close is the flying guy?"
Devo: "65 feet."
Devo: "It seems that the deeds credited to Covenant couldn't have been performed by just one man."
Zora: "Or that many women credited to just one man."
patv: "The djinni flew in by Plane. It wasn't even first class."
It was with some trepidation that Liadan broke the clay seals on the two scrolls we had received and reviewed their contents. We were still uncertain of our reception in the city of the efreeti.
The two missives proved to be nothing more than they appeared: invitations from nobles of the Caliph's court. Our host informed us that they came from two lesser princes, captains of the Caliph's army, by the names of Fasir and Loka Poshk. Unfortunately Loka Poshk's message was written in the native tongue of the Plane of Fire, which none of us could read at that point. But Fasir had written in the common tongue. His flowery message requested our presence for tea at some point within the next three days. He also recommended a specific scribe by whom we could send our response.
We did not know whether we should accept either invitation - for we presumed that Loka Poshk's message contained a similar request - and we determined that we should garner more information about these two captains before making our decision. Liadan then asked our host if he knew of an alehouse or wine shop where we might find folk likely to be familiar with these two worthies. He suggested a likely location.
The nighttime streets of the City of Brass are not as busy as those of Calimport, though similar in many respects. Finding the evening air cooler, we determined that it would be wise to don our armor. Erim then surrounded us with magics of fire protection, as that is a common hazard here. We then proceeded to the establishment recommended to us. We found that we were better armed and armored than the other guests, though not as nicely attired.
Our arrival naturally drew some attention, for most of the other guests were djanni. But as we could not understand their speech we did not know if the attention we provoked was unfriendly. There were no empty tables available and we were seated with two humans and a djanni.
Fortunately they spoke the common tongue and were not averse to conversing with us. Nekaya and Liadan took the lead in these, being the most accomplished conversationalists among our party. They made no pretense of disguising our reason for visiting the City of Brass. Our table-mates described for us several individuals they knew of as guests of the Caliph, but Osaze Mumbai was not among the names they mentioned. When Liadan made mention of him they responded by describing him as a prisoner and were amused that she had referred to him as a guest of the Caliph. But they were aware of him as a holy man, and questioned Liadan regarding what made him so admirable to us. She then proceeded to tell them the story Madu el Barake had told us of Osaze's visit to the dragon. She also told them of the invitations we had received, to which they made a curious suggestion: they recommended that we publicly burn the invitations, to draw the attention of the two captains' enemies, for they judged that both captains were unimportant and their enemies were much more likely to be worth meeting.
While this conversation proceeded, Baran and I observed something peculiar occurring at the table nearest ours. A servant had been summoned there and the patrons at the table made some remarks to him while looking intently at our group. The servant then smiled in a most disturbing manner, staring at us all the while, and hurried out of the establishment.
Though we could not understand their words, Baran is an accomplished mimic and was able to repeat what they had said to Erim, whose magic enabled him to comprehend it. They had spoken of someone named Kamaree who evidently had some interest in us. Nekaya-Re then asked our companions of this Kamaree. They explained that he was another captain of the Caliph's army and was known to have a fierce temper, but they knew little else.
We lingered for a time at the table, anticipating that the servant who had departed had gone to fetch this Captain Kamaree, but when no one arrived we at last bade our farewells to our table-mates and made our way back toward the wayhouse. We soon detected that someone was following us, flying above the streets as so many of the city's denizens are able to do. We determined that he was indeed pursuing us by making several unnecessary changes of direction, pretending to have lost our way.
Baran then turned toward the flying individual and demanded to know for what purpose he followed us. This person, who we observed was well armored and bearing both sword and bow, then alit upon the street and asked our names. Baran demanded to know his name first. He introduced himself as Thusal and claimed that his pursuit had been due to curiosity. But Erim had recognized the crest he wore as associating him with Kamaree and asked why Kamaree had sent him.
Liadan then asked Thusal what he knew of Fasir and Loka Poshk. Thusal spoke disparagingly of Loka Poshk as a captain and explained that Fasir was an administrator of sorts. He then recommended that if we wished to have any chance of seeing Osaze Mumbai we should make the acquaintance of Prince Jafar, who had charge of the Caliph's dungeons. He told us that the Prince had an interest in weaponry, particularly magical weapons. Thusal then escorted us to our wayhouse and bade us good evening.
On the following morning, Lathander granted Liadan the ability to read the message from Loka Poshk for herself, which confirmed that it was much the same as Fasir's invitation. But we determined that we still lacked sufficient information to decide how to respond. We realized that it might be worthwhile to follow Thusal's suggestion and seek audience with Prince Jafar, for it seemed much more likely that this could gain us access to Osaze than having tea with two lesser nobles who were reputedly not in good standing in the court. Liadan had also realized that we held in our keeping an item that might be of interest to the Prince: a curious blade we had found in the beholder temple, designed to be wielded by an eye tyrant by holding it in its mouth.
We made our way out into the city to contact a scribe who could write a message to Prince Jafar on our behalf. As we traveled we discovered that Captain Kamaree had evidently been spreading unflattering rumours about us. We learned that his ire had apparently been roused because the efreet that Liadan's magic had blinded was his cousin. Liadan then suggested that she might offer to heal the other efreet's blindness, but Erim remarked that such an offer might be considered too conciliatory. Instead, after having our offer to Prince Jafar transcribed, Liadan dictated a message to Kamaree in an effort to make peace with him without appearing weak or condescending.
After some hours spent examining the wares available in the city, we repaired to an eating establishment of very high standards suggested to us by our host at the wayhouse. We were the only patrons not of efreet-kind. Once again we found ourselves seated with strangers, this time two blue-skinned djinni. I had not understood the differences between all of these folk until I met these two gentelpersons. While djanni are those half of efreet blood and half of human blood, djinni are denizens of the Plane of Air. These two were servants of Minister Halashahn, ambassador of the djinni to the Caliph's court.
Our fellow guests were most pleasant and willing to converse on all manner of topics. When told of our desire to see Osaze Mumbai, they explained that they had met him at the Caliph's court and been greatly impressed by his skill at oratory. Though they knew that he had spoken for the benefit of all present, each person who heard him speak had felt as though he spoke to them alone.
They asked us to tell them of our journey to the city, for it was apparent to them that we are not ordinary folk. Liadan then regaled them with the tale of our crossing of the desert and our battles with the whirling columns of fire and obsidian. She also described our adventure in the eye tyrant's stronghold beneath the sands. When she mentioned her father they recognized his name and commented upon the quantity of heroic deeds credited to him. They in turn appeared to be most friendly toward us, and told us that they wished they could aid us in achieving our goal of seeing Osaze, though they knew not how to achieve this. They did offer their aid in gaining an introduction to Prince Jafar, however, for which we were most grateful.
Following this pleasant meal, we returned once more to the wayhouse to find a message awaiting us. This time the missive came from Kamaree, who requested that we meet him at Whitefire Gardens on the following day at noon. Erim observed that the request was stated in the tone of a demand rather than an invitation. He also noted that Whitefire Gardens is located within the grounds of the royal palace!
____________________________
Quips & Quotes:
Zora: "Are we going in fireball formation or lightning bolt formation?"
patv: "I prefer lightning bolt - it sounds faster."
patv: "Okay, I'll regret this, but I'll prepare animate rope today."
Devo: "Did you take rope trick?"
patv: "I don't have that spell."
Zora: "Because you have to know how to animate the rope to get it to do tricks."
patv: "Yeah, you have to be able to get it up before it will do it's thing."
patv: "I have darkvision to 60 feet. How close is the flying guy?"
Devo: "65 feet."
Devo: "It seems that the deeds credited to Covenant couldn't have been performed by just one man."
Zora: "Or that many women credited to just one man."
patv: "The djinni flew in by Plane. It wasn't even first class."